Introducing our new team members
Starting fresh this year, we are proud to introduce our new staff who are facilitating community predator control across Dunedin’s urban centre.
Catherine Hosted and Kimberley Collins bring a wealth of skills and experience in community conservation, as well as dynamism, to the Predator Free Dunedin (PFD) team.
Catherine Hosted, Operations Supervisor (left) and Kimberley Collins, Community Engagement Facilitator (right).
As the operations supervisor, Catherine will lead the delivery of this exciting new project to empower residents and community groups to do predator control within the Dunedin City area. With a background in habitat restoration, she has years of experience killing pests of the plant variety.
Catherine joins our team from Dunedin City Council and the Department of Conservation where she worked as the volunteer project facilitator, supporting community groups throughout the Coastal Otago region to grow their conservation efforts, develop new volunteering opportunities, and connect more people with conservation.
Catherine is most looking forward to seeing how urban communities and residents take ownership of this great challenge and lead the way towards making Dunedin City predator free!
As the community engagement facilitator, Kimberley will oversee the project’s outreach efforts. With a background in science communication and ecology, she is passionate about telling conservation stories that motivate people to do good and make change.
Kimberley has previously worked with a range of conservation organisations, including Forest & Bird, Zealandia Ecosanctuary, and more recently the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition. She is most excited about making it easy, fun, and accessible for people in the Dunedin City area to protect indigenous biodiversity with predator control in their backyards and local reserves.
Mike Stuart also joins the team as volunteer coordinator for the Otago Peninsula Biodiversity Group. Mike has loads of experience from working as a consultant in marine biosecurity and pest management. As a long-term Peninsula resident, Mike is excited to be engaging with his local community and supporting volunteers to help them achieve a predator free Peninsula.